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TNI officers arrested over suspected acid attack on rights activist

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI) have arrested four personnel for their suspected involvement in an acid attack against human rights activist Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).”The four suspects have been arrested by the military police for investigation purposes,” TNI's Military Police Commander Major General Yusri Nuryanto stated here on Wednesday.Nuryanto confirmed that the four suspects were members of the military's Strategic Intelligence Agency headquarters detachment (Denma BAIS), identified by the initials NDP, SL, BWH, and ES.The military police chief said that investigators have yet to establish the motive for the attack as the probe is ongoing.The four suspects will be charged under Article 467 of the Criminal Code concerning premeditated assault, with a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.Nuryanto stressed that the Military Police will work professionally and transparently, and that all findings by them will be presented openly in court.”The TNI Military Police will work professionally. We will publicly inform all phases of the probe, including the investigation, case filing, and submission of the case to the military court for trial,” he remarked.The assault took place on Thursday evening (March 12) in Central Jakarta, as Yunus was riding a motorcycle after attending a podcast on militarism and the judicial review of military law, organized by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI). He was promptly rushed to a hospital for treatment.Initial CCTV footage showed two unidentified assailants approaching Yunus on a motorbike before throwing corrosive liquid at him, leaving the activist with burns on his limbs and visual impairment.Chair of Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR) Habiburokhman, on Monday (16/3), condemned the acid attack on Yunus as a deviant act against President Prabowo Subianto’s commitment to upholding fundamental freedom.